Courses

Choosing a course is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make! View our courses and see what our students and lecturers have to say about the courses you are interested in at the links below.

About NUI Galway

Since 1845, NUI Galway has been sharing the highest quality teaching and research with Ireland and the world. Find out what makes our University so special – from our distinguished history to the latest news and campus developments.

News

Dr. Srinivas Raghavendra, economics at NUI Galway presented his paper “Unpaid labour and distribution of income” at the 20th Annual Conference of the Research Network on Macroeconomics and Macroeconomics Policies (FMM) held in Berlin in October 2016 under the theme “Towards Pluralism in Macroeconomics?”
The aim of the conference was to assess the current state of macroeconomics: key questions included:
What has changed in the two decades since the foundation of the network?
Is there greater pluralism in theoretical approaches?
What are the improvements in modelling the economy in orthodox and heterodox approaches?
What is the explanatory power and empirical content of macroeconomics today?
Find out more:
20th Annual Conference Programme

Students from the Natural Resource Economics and Policy Masters programme, who were on placement with Inland Fisheries Ireland over the summer, presented their research findings to the staff of IFI and other fisheries agencies at IFI headquarters in Citywest Business Campus, Dublin, on Friday the 7th of October last.
For more information on the M.Econ.Sc. Natural Resource Economics and Policy programme see here.

Professor Alan Ahearne, Economics at NUI Galway, participated as a panellist at that “Into the Blue Economy” session of Our Ocean Wealth Conference held in NUI Galway Friday 1st July 2016. The conference reflected the research and teaching expertise of NUI Galway in this field, most notably through the participation of many researchers and students affiliated with the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) at NUI Galway.
Also on the panel were Liam Lacey, Irish Maritime Development Office, Tara McCarthy, Bord Iascaigh Mhara and Mary Shelman, Harvard University.
Find out more about:
Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) at NUI Galway

Money, Uncertainty and the Macroeconomy
Workshop
Jointly organized by
COST Action KNOWeSCAPE and Complex Systems Research Centre (CORE), NUI Galway
March 14-16, 2016
The financial meltdown of 2008 in the US stock markets and the subsequent protracted recession in the developed economies have accentuated the need to understand the implication of the dynamic interaction between the modern financial sector and the real economy. The mainstream approach in economics has turned out to be grossly inadequate, both at substantive, methodological levels, in providing an understanding of the current crisis.
There is a long-standing tradition in Classical Political Economy, which recognizes the central role of money in production and distribution of income in the economy. The modern proponents of this lineage have been advancing the frontiers by explicitly considering the endogenous nature of money in the context of modern financial sector and its implication for production and distribution of income.
At the same time, Physicists, Mathematicians and others have been exploring the dynamics of the modern financial sector and its impact on a systemic level using models from statistical mechanics, ecology/biology and information theory. Their work provides a way to break away from the tradition of viewing the economy as homogenous entity to a network of heterogeneous agents and entities.
The question then is how does this new knowledge helps to further our understanding on some of the classical questions such as the role of money in production of commodities and distribution of income? This short workshop seeks to bring together economists and noneconomists working on these questions for a dialogue on the conceptual, methodological, and applied issues related to the role of money in the wider economy.
Workshop Programme

The Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU), Whitaker Institute, NUI Galway, and Focal Point Ireland jointly organised the 2nd National Event of the Support Team for the Atlantic Action Plan, in association with the 6th Annual Beaufort Socio-Economic Marine Research Symposium.
With over 100 registered delegates, the day provided participants with an update on a wide range of topics related to the marine sector in Ireland and the Atlantic Area, as well as forum for discussing funding opportunities available to Irish stakeholders. There was special on-line address by Commissioner Karmenu Vella (European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) as well as input from DG MARE, the Marine Institute, Failte Ireland and the INTERREG programmes.
The day hosted 2 parallel sessions and showcased current socio-economic marine research and funding opportunities. Sessions focused on the INTERREG Atlantic Area and Ireland Wales programme and facilitated the use of these programmes in implementing the Atlantic Action Plan, Priority 4. Presentations from both the national contact points of these programmes as well as input from stakeholders involved in these programmes created a lively discussion on the opportunities available, how people are looking to avail of these with the ultimate aim of generating potential project ideas to bring forward in the future. A number of project ideas were presented and discussed on a one-to-one basis in a dedicated networking session in the afternoon.
Delegates also had the opportunity to listen to Irish and international researchers in the area of marine socio-economics and discuss on-going research, potential collaboration and future research needs.
Find out more:
SEMRU at NUI Galway
Whitaker Institute at NUI Galway
Focal Point Ireland at NUI Galway

2nd Annual Frontiers in Healthcare Conference
The Health Economics and Policy Analysis research group held the 2nd Annual Frontiers in Healthcare Conference in the ILAS Building on November 4. The conference, which was attended by about 100 delegates, focused on the issue of adherence and this topic was addressed by academics from a variety of disciplines including economics, psychology and medicine and healthcare professionals working in both the public and private sector. Brendan Kennelly, who organized the conference with the cooperation of Novartis Ireland, said that it was important to recognize that adherence was not simply a question of adherence to medication. The topic extended to questions such as why people adhere or not to health promoting behaviour and why medical professionals adhere or not to care guidelines. Considerable attention was given to whether new technologies can be used to improve adherence and the ethical considerations that arise from the use of these technologies. This annual conference has already established itself as an important event in Ireland and planning is already underway for the next conference in November 2016.

On the 24th September, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Michael Noonan TD, presented the Department of Finance's Economic Policy Competition 2015 award to the winner, Fergal Brennan, a final year M.Econ.Sc. International Finance student at NUI Galway. As the successful candidate, Fergal completed an internship in the Economic Division of the Department of Finance. Fergal's class-mate, Daniel Cassidy, was one of the runners-up.
Read more about the Department of Finance Economic Policy Competition

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD has launched the latest report on Ireland’s Ocean Economy, produced by the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) at the NUI Galway. The launch took place at the Ocean Wealth Festival in Cork. Pictured with the Minister are Dr. Stephen Hynes and Professor Micheal Cuddy of SEMRU.
Download the full report
SEMRU at NUI Galway

Sharon Walsh, a PhD student in economics at NUI Galway and Hardiman Scholar, under the supervision of Dr. John Cullinan, was recently awarded a prestigious scholarship by the National University of Ireland (NUI).
The Dr Mary L Thornton Scholarship is awarded annually to support research in the field of education and will be used to fund part of Sharon’s PhD research which will use a discrete choice experiment to examine student preferences for higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ireland. This work will involve surveying 600 students in secondary schools across Ireland in order to examine how students value the attributes of different HEIs in their choice of institution. This is the first such study to be conducted in Ireland and the scholarship will assist greatly in conducting the research.

Stephen Hynes of Economics at NUI Galway and SEMRU (Socio-economic Marine Research Unit) at NUI Galway attended the kick-off meeting for the AquaAccept project in Stavanger, Norway on the 13th and 14th of April 2015. The project is funded through the Norwegian Research Council and its main objective is to investigate the social acceptability of impacts of aquaculture on marine coastal systems.
As well as SEMRU at NUI Galway, the other main partners on the project are the International Research Institute of Stavanger and the Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR Ancona).
See also:
SEMRU at NUI Galway

Aishling Callaghan receives the Marine Institute Award from Marine Institute Director Caroline Bocquel. The Marine Institute Award, which is worth €1000, is sponsored by the Irish Marine Institute and is awarded to the final year student who attains the highest mark in the final year module Marine Economics at NUI Galway, which is taught by Dr Stephen Hynes.

As part of their assessment for two postgraduate econometrics modules, students from the MSc Health Economics, MA/MEconSc Natural Resource Economics and Policy and 1st Year PhD (Economics) programmes at NUI Galway recently presented their research at an Applied Econometrics Poster Session orgainsed by Dr John Cullinan and Dr Paddy Gillespie. In total there were 14 posters on a variety of topics (see below), all of which involved the application of a limited dependent variable (LDV) econometric model to a research question of relevance/interest to the student. One of the aims of the session was to give students the experience of partaking in a conference style poster session. Each student gave a short presentation of their work and fielded questions from staff and their peers. By presenting their work in poster form, students had to consider how to summarise and translate their research findings and conclusions in a clear, concise and imaginative way.
Posters
Aisling Murphy – Does Having Private Health Insurance Increase the Risk of Having an Elective Caesarean in Ireland?
Anthony Cawley – The Decision to Participate in Agricultural Extension Services
Brian Leonard – The Factors Affecting the Presence of a Farm Successor
Derek O’Boyle – Loneliness, Clinical Factors and Depressive Symptoms among Older Adults in Ireland: An Ordinal Logistic Regression Approach
Ed Knapp – Economic Viability and Environmental Subsidies in the 2012 National Farm Survey
Eoin McGurk – Determinants of Farmer Participation in Rural Environmental Protection Schemes
Helen O’Donnell – The Impact of Caring for Sick Children on the Self Rated Health of Irish Mothers
John Deely – The Effects of an Aging Farmer Population on Environmental Practises in Ireland
John Joseph Cunningham – The Most Beautiful Game: Identifying the Match Characteristics that are Associated with Goals in Soccer Matches
Kieran O’Hanlon – The Value of Marine and Leisure Based Activities in Ireland: A Travel Cost Model
Padraic Ward – The Determinants of GP Utilisation for the Over 50s Population in Ireland
Phoebe Balkin – The Determinants of Healthcare Costs of Irish 9 year olds
Ricky Conneely – The Farm Characteristics Effecting Off-Farm Employment
Suzanne van Osch – Estimating the Irish Public's Willingness to Pay for Sustainably Produced Salmon
For more information on postgraduate programme in Economics at NUI Galway see here.

NUI Galway launches the Health and Wellbeing Survey
Led by Professor Ciaran O’Neill, a group of researchers based at NUI Galway’s School of Business and Economics have been funded by the Health Research Board to undertake research aimed at improving our understanding of a number of health-related issues, including healthcare costs and service quality.
Health and Wellbeing Survey
One of our studies, the Health and Wellbeing Survey, seeks to establish the preferences of Irish people for different health states relative to each other: what matters most to Irish people? Every day, decisions are being made on how to best use our limited healthcare resources. This study is being carried out to provide better information on which these decisions can be based. Members of the general public in Ireland are being asked to help with this study. Our researchers are currently visiting randomly selected households across the country, inviting members of the public to contribute their opinions to this important work by taking part in our Health and Wellbeing Survey – we want to find out the different views of Irish people regarding health and illness.
What is the aim of the survey?
This survey aims to establish how Irish people compare health states that impact on different domains or areas of health. We are interested in five domains of health: mobility, self-care, pain, anxiety and the ability to undertake usual activities (work, study, housework, pastimes, etc.). A health state describes how an individual experiences life, in and across these different domains. So, for example, a health state might be described with phrases like No problems walking about and Slight problems with performing my usual activities – and so on.
Will this research lead to any change in our healthcare system?
From this study, we hope that a clearer understanding of the preferences of Irish people for different health states relative to each other will emerge and also that we establish a better picture of what factors underlie differences in these valuations between people.
From the information we collect in the survey, we aim to generate preference weights that will be available to those undertaking evaluations of new technologies, so that decisions made will reflect Irish-specific preferences for different health states. When considering whether to adopt a new technology, including new drugs, policy makers weigh up the costs and benefits of new technologies relative to those, for example, in current use. Benefits in evaluations of this type are generally expressed in terms of the impact the new technology has on health. As different technologies may have very specific effects we need common points of comparison – such as the impact of the new technology on mobility, self-care, pain etc. – to evaluate different technologies relative to each other. This survey we are undertaking will allow us to make such comparisons, based on the views we have collected from Irish people.
It will also allow us to explore how these preferences compare with results from similar exercises undertaken in other countries, for example in the UK, China, Indonesia, Poland, Denmark and Italy. This will allow us to establish if preferences for different health states are different in different countries, and if so why this might be the case: might it be to do with cultural differences in how for example dependence is viewed, or perhaps might it depend on what supports are available in different countries to people impacted by ill-health in different ways?
Taking part in the Health and Wellbeing Survey
If your house is one of those randomly chosen, we will be delighted if you take time to complete the Health and Wellbeing Survey.
Our research team
Three of our research team are currently conducting the survey:
2015-03-Research Team
For more information, please email: hwbsurvey@nuigalway.ie or call 091 492866

In front of a panel of leading financial services professionals, a student team from NUI Galway retained the prestigious CFA Society Ireland 'Global Investment Research Challenge' title. Having won the competition in 2014 analysing Ryanair, this year's team took home the trophy with their analysis of Kingspan. The Challenge offers students a unique hands-on opportunity to learn stock market research and analysis skills from industry experts and to compete with peers from the world’s top finance programmes. The NUI Galway team comprised four students from the M.Econ.Sc. International Finance degree and one B.Comm. student. They saw off competition from University College Cork, University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and Queens University Belfast. The NUI Galway team now proceeds to the European Middle-East Africa (EMEA) finals in Amsterdam in early April.
For more information on the M.Econ.Sc. International Finance Programme see here.

In an article in the Irish Examiner of Tuesday, 24th February 2015, Joe Dermody writes about the Agricultural Economics and Policy course offered as part of the M.Econ.Sc. Natural Resource Economics and Policy programme at NUI Galway; and the participation of both NUI Galway and Teagasc economists in its delivery to provide an opportunity for the students to see how agricultural economists use the economic tools to answer real world agricultural policy questions.
He writes:
Agri-economic studies can help underpin the sustainability of Irish food production, say the creators of a new course at NUI Galway.
The Agricultural Economics and Policy course, offered as part of the Natural Resource Economics and Policy Masters, is designed to develop the analytical modelling skills of economics graduates for employment in private and public sector enterprises concerned with the environment, agriculture, food, fisheries, and other marine resources.
The course will be delivered jointly by NUI Galway and Teagasc economists. Lecturers will include Teagasc economists Thia Hennessy, Trevor Donnellan, and Kevin Hanrahan of the Athenry-based Rural Economy and Development Programme.
Course director Stephen Hynes of NUI Galway said: “Given that agriculture and food is a key element in the Irish economy and natural resource management is vital for the continued development of the sector it is important that we have students coming through with the tools to analyse the impact of policy and impact of possible environmental changes on the sector.
“The participation of the Teagasc economists in the delivery of the course is a great opportunity for the students to see how agricultural economists use the economic tools, learnt during the course, to answer real world agricultural policy questions.”
The new course analyses how public policy relates to Irish agriculture, climate change policy, CAP reform, and global economic impacts.
The Masters course begins again in September with application due by end of June.
For more information the M.Econ.Sc. Natural Resource Economics & Policy Programme see here
See media coverage of this article (Irish Examiner)

Professor Alan Ahearne, Head of Economics at NUI Galway, has been appointed Chairman of the steering committee governing the newly launched Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and Department of Finance Joint Research Programme on the Macro-economy and Taxation.
Under the programme – the objective of which is to undertake and disseminate research on various macroeconomic and taxation issues in Ireland - researchers from the ESRI will work alongside officials from the Department of Finance on various research projects. The programme will run for two years.
Research topics are likely to include:
research on aspects of the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting initiative;
analysis of FDI spillover effects;
research on UK-Ireland macroeconomic links in the context of joint membership of the EU;
analysis of petrol and diesel markets in Ireland; and
macroeconomic and tax modelling.
All research will be published. The joint collaboration between the Department and the ESRI was announced by the Minister for Finance at the Department’s conference on International Taxation and Economic Growth last October.
Further details of the programme are available here.

Research Assistant in Health Economics
We have been asked to prepare a cost of illness study for a particular illness in Ireland.
The objectives of the study are
Estimate the full direct costs of the illness for the Irish health care system, including the cost of diagnosis, treatment and the associated complications. Direct costs will include any screening or testing treatment and management, including primary care, secondary care, drugs, etc., as well as any complications
Estimate the societal costs of the illness in Ireland in relation to the loss of productivity as a result of increased mortality and morbidity associated with the illness as well as any costs associated with carers.
The work will include
Literature search and review;
Identification and assessment of the available data sources;
Model the costs including estimates of future cost burden.
The project will take 12 weeks and the gross pay will be €450 per week.
If you are interested please email a CV to Brendan Kennelly (brendan.kennelly@nuigalway.ie) by 5 p.m. on Monday, January 19th. Interviews will be held at NUI Galway on January 23rd.

Timetables for Semester II 2014/15 i.e., beginning 12th January 2015, are now online:
View timetables
Note that in particular, the 3BA1 (Economics) timetables have been revised from versions made available last September, and that these changes carry through to 4BA1 etc.
However, there are no changes to earlier versions of the timetables for 1BA1 (Economics) and 2BA1 (Economics).
There have also been some revisions to timetables for taught postgrad programmes, i.e. for:
M.Econ.Sc. Economic Policy Evaluation & Planning - Year 2 (part-time)
M.Sc. Health Economics - Year 1 (part-time)
M.Sc. Health Economics (full-time)
M.Econ.Sc. Natural Resource Economics & Policy
M.Econ.Sc. International Finance
H.Dip.Econ.Sc. Stream A
H.Dip.Econ.Sc. Stream B
For details, see:
Timetables and other current student information.
Enquiries to economics@nuigalway.ie

A new book, "The Economics of Disability - Insights from Irish Research", co-edited by Dr. John Cullinan of Economics at NUI Galway, and published by Manchester University Press, brings together research relating to the economics of disability in Ireland.
It addresses a range of issues of relevance to the economic circumstances of people with disabilities, considering topics such as social inclusion, poverty, the labour market, living standards and public policy. It also considers issues of specific relevance to children, working-age adults and older people with disabilities, providing important evidence that can help improve disability policies, services and supports. Each chapter presents a clear and relatively non-technical treatment of the specific topic under consideration, making it accessible to a greater number of interested readers. In doing so, it provides an important addition to our knowledge and understanding of the economics of disability and will serve as a useful and up-to-date resource for a range of interested parties both in Ireland and internationally.
More details here

The Health Economics and Policy Analysis research group at NUI Galway organised a very successful conference on ‘Pricing Healthcare: The role of health economics evaluation in the emerging healthcare landscape in Ireland’ in the Aula Maxima on November 4, 2014.
In any healthcare system dominated by public expenditure a critical question arises as to what healthcare should be provided. There are a host of competing demands across disease areas, across care levels, across population groups and across social classes. All of them have strong arguments that the particular intervention that they advocate should be funded. But resources are limited so the question arises as to how should a society decide on which particular elements of healthcare should be prioritized?
This was the key question addressed at the conference which was jointly organised with Novartis one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. The conference featured presentations from leading health economists in the UK and Ireland as well as contributions from the main stakeholders in the healthcare sector such as the pharmaceutical industry, clinicians, and private health insurance companies. The conference was also addressed by representatives from the key decision making agencies in Ireland in this area such as the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) and the National Centre for Pharmaeconomics (NCPE).
The Health Economics and Policy Analysis research group, which comprises about twenty academics, researchers and PhD students, conducts a wide range of research and has particular expertise in disease areas such as dementia, cancer, diabetes, stroke and mental health. The group works closely with clinical researchers in the School of Medicine at NUI Galway and elsewhere and with leading health economists around the world.
For more information about the conference please contact Brendan Kennelly at brendan.kennelly@nuigalway.ie.
Health Economics and Policy Analysis Group

Professor Ciaran O’Neill and Paddy Gillespie of Economics at NUI Galway will play a key role in the development of a new Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) research centre at NUI Galway. The Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM) at NUI Galway is of one of five major new national research centres that will be established by a major investment by the Government in scientific research that is closely aligned to industry and enterprise needs, job opportunities and societal goals.
A total of €155 million of Irish exchequer funding will be invested in the new world class research centres of scale. The new funding will be delivered through SFI’s Research Centres Programme coupled with over €90 million in contributions from industry partners.
The prime objective for CÚRAM, which will be developed under the leadership of Lead Principal Investigator Professor Abhay Pandit and Co-Principal Investigators Professor Tim O’Brien, Professor David Brayden and Professor Lokesh Joshi, will be to improve health outcomes for patients by developing innovative implantable medical devices to treat major unmet medical needs.
Professor Ciaran O’Neill and Paddy Gillespie of Economics at NUI Galway will lead the health economic component of the centre’s research output. In particular, the health economic analysis will: “Develop and apply valid cost effectiveness models for emerging medical devices in the Irish healthcare sector and internationally”. To this end, in the near future the Health Economics and Policy Analysis group at NUI Galway will be seeking to hire a postdoctoral researcher in the area of economic evaluation of medical device technology.
Read more about:
The Heallth Economics and Policy Analysis group at NUI Galway
NUI Galway's participation in €245m investment in new SFI research centres

The work of researchers in SEMRU (the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit) at NUI Galway has been highlighted in the latest (October 2014) issue of Science for Environment Policy, published by the European Commission’s Directorate-General Environment.
This regular publication provides a comprehensive look at the latest science policy topics, and is designed to “help policymakers keep up-to-date with the latest environmental research findings needed to design, implement and regulate effective policies”.
The summary report on the SEMRU research can be downloaded here.

Dr. Paddy Gillespie of Economics at NUI Galway, in collaboration with researchers at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Irish Heart Foundation, King College London, and Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, have published a report which examines the cost and cost effectiveness of early supported discharge (ESD) for stroke rehabilitation in Ireland.
ESD is an intensive approach to rehabilitation in the community used internationally but not generally available in Ireland. The research found that 54% of stroke survivors in Ireland – more than 3,000 people a year – could benefit from ESD programmes that would reduce hospital bed days by 24,000, resulting in annual net savings of from €2 to €7 million, while improving outcomes for patients.
According to the new report titled Towards Earlier Discharge, Better Outcomes, Lower Cost: Stroke Rehabilitation in Ireland, implementing Early Supported Discharge would require a substantial increase in the resourcing of community therapists (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapists), community nurses and other community care above current levels in Ireland. However, savings from the reduced cost of acute bed days could fund this increase in resourcing. The research found that there is currently poor resourcing of and wide regional variation in community and inpatient rehabilitation for stroke survivors in Ireland.
For more, see:
ESRI news release on this report
View publication details (and link to download) at ESRI
Health Economics and Policy Group at NUI Galway

On Tuesday October 21st 2014, the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU), NUI Galway will hold its 5th annual research symposium in Galway.
The symposium is an opportunity for researchers and policy-makers in marine socio-economics to get together to meet and discuss on-going research. The day is divided up into four sessions, and will cover topics such as valuing the ocean and coastal economies, maritime transport, fisheries and ocean energy, marine spatial planning ... and more!
The symposium will include presentations by researchers involved in the Beaufort Award across the sessions of the day. A programme is available here
There will also be a Marnet project session where the practical uses of marine socio-economic data collected across the Atlantic Arc EU member States will be presented. Marnet is a marine socio economic transnational EU INTERREG project which is supported by the EU Atlantic Area Interreg Programme.
For more information on the Marnet project, see http://www.marnetproject.eu
The Beaufort Award is carried out under the Sea Change Strategy and the Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation (2006-2013), with the support of the Marine Institute, funded under the Marine Research Sub-Programme of the National Development Plan 2007–2013.
This is a free event and all are welcome.
Please register hereby Friday 17th October 2014.
For more information, please contact rebecca.corless@nuigalway.ie
See more:
SEMRU at NUI Galway
Conference programme

Dr. John Cullinan of Economics at NUI Galway recently delivered a paper at an Inclusion Ireland conference on the economic cost of disability. His research shows that the economic cost of disability in Ireland is large and has a significantly negative impact on the living standards of the disabled and their families. It suggests that current policy in Ireland does not go far enough in addressing the impact of these extra costs and that it is time to think again about the introduction of a cost of disability payment for those most adversely impacted by such costs.
See media coverage of this event (Irish Examiner story)

SEMRU, the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit at NUI Galway, has joined a number of partners in a major new EU funding programme.
SEMRU joins the University of Portsmouth, UK, Technopôle Brest-Iroise, France and the BC3 Basque Centre for Climate Change, Spain as the focal points for a new EU funded Assistance Mechanism for the Atlantic Action Plan (AAP). The AAP has identified four focus areas for research and investment to tackle common challenges. These are:
Promote entrepreneurship and innovation.
Protect, secure and develop the potential of the Atlantic marine and coastal environment.
Improve accessibility and connectivity.
Create a socially inclusive and sustainable model of regional development.
While addressing these challenges, an important operational objective for the AAP is to avoid overlaps with individual countries’ policies and plans concerning the development of their marine and maritime economies. Hence, the AAP is required to enhance and work effectively alongside existing policy frameworks that are active in the AAP territories. The Assistance Mechanism for the AAP is tasked with communicating and implementing these objectives of the AAP. The project will run until April 2016.
The team members of SEMRU at NUI Galway involved in the project are: Dr. Stephen Hynes and Dr. Amaya Vega.
See more:
SEMRU Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit at NUI Galway

A pioneering trial run jointly by the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology led by Professor Eamon O’Shea at the the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG) and Economics at NUI Galway, and the School of Nursing and Midwifery at NUI Galway headed by Professor Kathy Murphy entitled "DementiA education programme incorporating REminiscence for Staff (DARES)" has highlighted the potential of talking and remembering earlier times as a means of therapy for people with dementia, based on a study of three hundred people with dementia carried out over a period of three years.
It is estimated that there are 50,000 people with dementia in Ireland today with an additional 4,000 new cases every year, which will increase from now on as people are living longer. Dementia is the term used to describe a group of symptoms such as memory loss, language difficulties, confusion and disorientation which affect some people, usually in older age. It is not always clear why some people get dementia and others do not, nor can it be easily predicted, although there may be a genetic component and lifestyle is an influence on some types of dementia.
Dementia is an expensive condition for families and the State. The annual financial burden of the disease has been estimated by researchers at NUI Galway to be 1.7 billion euros, with significant burden falling on family carers, who provide most of the care.
Whilst much of the treatment of people with dementia to date has been pharmacological, studies have shown that psychosocial interventions can also be beneficial. Reminiscence is increasingly seen as important in the care and support of people with dementia, given its potential to draw on early memories, which often remain intact for people with dementia, thereby highlighting the person’s preserved abilities rather than any cognitive impairment. Despite being widely used in dementia care, evidence on the effectiveness of reminiscence remains uncertain.
The DARES trial involved using reminiscence therapy for people with dementia in long-stay care settings in the West of Ireland. The therapy involved the use of photographs, music, mementos and memorabilia to people with dementia to encourage them to talk about their earlier life. The intervention was a structured education reminiscence-based programme for care staff, who subsequently engaged in individualised reminiscence with long-stay residents under their care. The primary research question focused on the impact of reminiscence therapy on the self-reported quality of life of residents with a diagnosis of dementia. The results showed that reminiscence therapy has a positive effect on people with dementia in long term residential care. Reminiscence can also improve the quality of the care and support that people with dementia receive as new relationships and connections are formed with staff, who are now more aware of the identity and personhood of the person for whom they care.
Find out more:
Irish Centre for Social Gerontology
School of Nursing & Midwifery

The J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, National University of Ireland, Galway is delighted to host the 11th Irish Society of New Economists Conference from the 4th to 5th of September, 2014. The Irish Society for New Economists was formed to encourage research, information and social links among early career economists in Ireland and Europe.
The conference will feature more than 74 economists from 33 universities and research organizations throughout Ireland, the UK, continental Europe and the United States presenting their research. The topics covered will range from banking, financial markets, and economic growth to health economics, education, employment, crime and energy and marine economics. The research findings will be of considerable importance to assist in addressing public policy issues such as enhancing future regional growth, inequality, unemployment, energy systems and obesity related policy issues. Full details of the conference programme are available on our conference website link included below.
The conference will be opened by Professor Alan Ahearne, Head of Economics, NUI Galway “We are delighted to host the 11th Irish Society of New Economists Conference in Galway this year and look forward to hearing about the exciting research results of so many outstanding new economists from all around the world.”
There will be two distinguished keynote speakers: Professor Ciaran O’Neill (NUI Galway) and Professor John FitzGerald (ESRI). A unique feature of the conference consists of a networking session between some of the sponsors and the presenters. The Local Organizing Committee of this year’s conference in NUI Galway are Michelle Queally, Aine Roddy, Patricia Carney and Aoife Callan.
The conference is sponsored by the IDA, National Treasury Management Agency, McNamara Economic Research, SSIS, Hays Recruitment, Teagasc, Department of Economics at NUI Galway, Whitaker Research Institute at NUI Galway, the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at NUI Galway, the Irish Economic Association, Bluebird Care, AbbiVie, Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service, Allergan, PMCA Economic Consulting.
Visit the ISNE 2014 conference website

Professor Alan Ahearne, Head of Economics, recently spoke at The Economist’s 18th Roundtable with the Government of Greece, “The Big Rethink for Europe,” in Athens. Prof. Ahearne shared a panel with Enrico Letta, Former Prime Minister of Italy, and Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor, The Economist (pictured). The discussion centred on the need for EU leaders to implement their strategy for closer economic and political integration in order to restore confidence and stability.

Portugal's Secretary of State for the Sea has commended NUI Galway and the BMW Regional Assembly for their efforts in leading the EU INTERREG ‘Marnet’ project. Marnet (Marine Atlantic Regions Network) is a transnational co-operation project which brings together Marine Research Institutes and Regional Authorities across Atlantic regions to map the value of the marine economy to coastal regions in Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland and the UK.
Delivering his keynote address at the Marnet conference at the Forum Do Mar International Marine event in Oporto this week, Mr. Manuel Pinto de Abreu welcomed the development of a Marnet Atlas of Marine Indicators which will allow local and regional authorities, Higher Education Institutes and marine industry players compare the value of marine activities to the local economies of Atlantic Regions. Launching the Marnet Atlas of Indicators, the Minister congratulated the project partners for their efforts over the past two years in creating this interactive tool which will help measure economic activities such as maritime shipping, seafood processing and marine tourism across the Atlantic economy.
Dr Stephen Hynes, Head of the Socio Economic Marine Research Unit at NUI Galway stated that
‘Marnet is a unique attempt to value the Atlantic Marine economy at an EU level. National reports have measured the impact of the Marine Economy at country level. However Marnet, will, for the first time, make available marine socio economic data at an EU Atlantic level which will help the key stakeholders in the Marine sector make informed decisions about future investments in the sector’
BMW Regional Assembly Director, Gerry Finn added that:
‘ At an EU level, the European Commission has published the Atlantic Maritime Strategy Action Plan which sets out four key priorities for investment in the Marine sector across Atlantic regions of the EU. Marnet will provide the measurement framework to gauge the progress of these priorities and help maximise the benefit to coastal areas of European Regional Funds.’
The Socio Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) is the scientific leader for the project and has played an active part in the development of the indicator framework.
The BMW Regional Assembly is the Lead Partner/ Co-ordinator for the Marnet project.
Further Information, please contact:
Mr. Gerry Finn, Director, BMW Regional Assembly. Phone: 094-9862970
Dr. Stephen Hynes, SEMRU, NUI Galway. Phone: 091-493105
The Socio Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) is the scientific leader for the project and has played an active part in the development of the indicator framework.
The BMW Regional Assembly is the Lead Partner/ Co-ordinator for the Marnet project.
Find out more:
Marnet
Socio Economic Marine Ressearch Unit (SEMRU) at NUI Galway

Ireland’s hotel sector continues to face challenges arising from unsustainable levels of overhanging debt according to a new report by Professor Alan Ahearne, of Economics at NUI Galway Speaking at a major investment conference hosted recently by the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF), Prof Ahearne said that, despite substantial progress being made over the last two years, indebtedness remains a pressing issue for many hotels outside large urban areas such as Dublin.
With total hotel debt estimated at €5.3bn (down from €6.7bn at the end of 2011), Prof Ahearne’s report reveals that a further reduction of €1.4 billion is required to bring hotel debt to a sustainable level. This would return hotels to a financial position where they could operate on a long-term sustainable basis and commit to investment in ongoing maintenance, refurbishment, renovation and innovation - and thereby grow employment. Prof Ahearne’s states that part of the solution should involve making funds in the recently announced Ireland Strategic Investment Fund available for investment in hotels that are viable but undercapitalised.
Download the report (via the Irish Hotels Federation)

A team which included NUI Galway health economist Dr. Aoife Callan, recently won the ‘Best Project in General Practice’ category in the 2014 Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards 2014.
The "SIMPLe" Team designed and developed an iPad App called 'Bug Run School Days' for GP surgeries to create awareness about the issue of antibiotic resistance.
Prof Eamon O’ Shea (Economics) and Dr. Christine Domegan (Marketing) were also part of the wider advisory group on the SIMPle project which informed the development of Bug Run School days.
Read more: Press release Bug Run School Days
The link to the game can be found here

The Health Economics and Policy Analysis (HEPA) Research Bulletin Series has officially been launched at NUI Galway. The series seeks to present the group's academic output accessiblly to a wider audience. The series begins with five bulletins which are available to download from the HEPA site, with more bulletins to follow in the coming weeks.
Find out more:
HEPA Research Bulletin Series

The Economics of Cancer Research Group at NUI Galway will be broadcasting a free online Webinar today (Wednesday 14th May 2013) at 3.00pm in the SAC Meeting RoomDr Otis Brawley, Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society, Professor of Hematology, Oncology, Medicine and Epidemiology at Emery University, and medical consultant for CNN, will speak on a number of topics related to cancer research including the economic burden of cancer in the US, disparities in health and the future of cancer research. Dr Brawley has published over 100 academic papers and is the author of the highly acclaimed book, "How we do harm: A doctor breaks ranks about being sick in America".
Find out more:
Economics of Cancer Research Group
2014-05-Otis W. Brawley Paper

Professor Ciaran O'Neill of Economics at NUI Galway has been appointed to two independent assessment panels for the New Zealand National Science Challenges. These have been established to assist the New Zealand government take a more strategic approach to public investment in research by inviting research proposals in a range of themed areas that are then evaluated by independent panels of international experts. The funds comprise $73.5 million over four years.
More:
New Zealand National Science Challenge
Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment New Zealand

At the opening of the University's new Hardiman Research Building on 1st May 2014, Dr. Stephen Hynes of Economics at NUI Galway had an opportunity to explain to Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn TD how the work of the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) at NUI Galway has fed into government policy in relation to marine economic development.
Find out more:
SEMRU
More about opening of the Hardiman Building

Students from the M.Econ.Sc. (Natural Resource Economics and Policy) programme at NUI Galway experienced two days afloat as part of their Marine Economics & Policy module in March 2014. Marine science met the world of marine economics when students took part in a two-day excursion on the national research vessel the Celtic Voyager.
Students learned how the scientists collect data related to fish populations, seabed habitats, information on health of the marine ecosystem and how to pursue an environmental impact assessment.
The students were accompanied by staff members from both Economics and from SEMRU, Dr. Stephen Hynes, Dr. Mike Fitzpatrick and Suzy van Osch.
Find out more:
M.Econ.Sc. (Natural Resource Economics and Policy)

The J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at the National University of Ireland, Galway, is delighted to host the 11th Irish Society of New Economists (ISNE) Conference from the 4th to 5th September, 2014.
The ISNE was formed to encourage research, information and social links among new economists in Ireland and Europe. The annual conference is intended for advanced Masters, PhD level students, and young professionals in the early stages of research. Eligibility to present has nothing to do with age and people working in economics-related research areas are encouraged to submit.
The 2014 ISNE meeting will feature the work and findings of scholars in economics, finance and related fields, and will provide an excellent opportunity for new researchers to present their findings and work in progress. Additional, a social event will be organised. There will be two keynote speech sessions featuring distinguished academics, Professor Ciaran O'Neill (NUIG) and Professor John Fitzgerald (ESRI).
The deadline for submissions is 30th May, 2014.
For further details are available at:
http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=363
Organising Committee:
Michelle Queally - email: m.queally1@nuigalway.ie
Aine Roddy - email: a.roddy1@nuigalway.ie
Patricia Carney - email: p.carney4@nuigalway.ie
Aoife Callan - email: aoife.callan@nuigalway.ie

Dr John Cullinan of Economics at NUI Galway will deliver a workshop on 'Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Public Policy at NUI Galway on 29th April, 2014.
The workshop will provide an overview of Geographic Information Systems with a specific focus on how GIS can usefully be used for public policy research, inter-disciplinary and collaborative research, as well as for funding applications. It will discuss what exactly a GIS is, what data is required to usefully conduct GIS analysis, what types of analyses a GIS can be used for, as well as the sorts of questions it can help answer. A range of illustrative examples of GIS-based research in the area of public policy will be outlined, including applications relating to higher education accessibility, regional economic development, access to health services, market access, health gradients, food environments, location of public services, etc. In all cases the focus is on how GIS can be used to better inform policy decisions. The seminar will conclude with an overview of the GIS resources available at NUI Galway, including software, hardware, data, courses, training and supports.
View full details here
Slides available here

In an article in the Irish Times of 26th April 2014, Dr Alan Ahearne, Head of Economics at NUI Galway, writes that the Government's forthcoming strategy document for the construction sector must convince people that there is a plan to ramp up supply of housing in the right places. Otherwise, he writes, there is a danger that recent rapid increases in house prices in parts of the country will become embedded in expectations for future prices.
View full article here.

NUI Galway will host an interdisciplinary workshop "Ways of Seeing" on data visualization and analysis on 23rd April 2014, with a central involvement from staff and students in Economics at NUI Galway.
The public policy analysis of complex social issues in the context of interconnected globalized world requires a multidimensional approach. Such an approach requires the ability to look beyond the borders of respective disciplines of knowledge and explore possible ways of seeing the issue at hand before defining the research problem. This workshop aims to provide a platform for cross fertilization of ideas from across the sciences to researchers in social sciences, and other related disciplines, with an interest in contributing to public policy.
The organizers of the Workshop are: Dr. Srinivas Raghavendra (Economics NUI Galway) and Professor Peter Richmond (TCD) and it is hosted by the Social Sciences Computing Hub, at the Whitaker Institute, NUI Galway.
Here's the workshop schedule:
Ways of Seeing Workshop April 2014 Schedule

Economics at NUI Galway was delighted to welcome Prof Lars Osberg to our weekly seminar series in March 2014: details are below, including a version of his paper which you can download.
Seminar title: "What's so bad about more inequality?"
Lars Osberg Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada
(Seminar held at Friday 14th March 2014, 2.00 PM CA111 Lecture Hall 1)
Osborg Paper

NUI Galway's April Open Day is the perfect opportunity for you to experience life at NUI Galway first hand. Come and talk to our students and staff, explore the campus, check out the facilities – including our Sports Centre – and decide for yourself whether NUI Galway feels right for you.
Meet staff and students from Economics at NUI Galway at our stand in the Bailey Allen Hall, Áras na Mac Léinn, which is the University's student centre, and find out more about courses you are interested in.
We look forward to seeing you here!
This Open Day is on Saturday 5th April, 10am to 3pm
Find out more:
NUI Galway Open Days
Open Day April 2014 Programme

Dr. Anne Nolan presented a seminar at NUI Galway on February 28th titled: Public Healthcare Eligibility and the Utilisation of GP Services by Older People in Ireland
Dr. Nolan is the Research Director of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging (TILDA). She joined TILDA in September 2013 on secondment from the Economic and Social Research Institute. Her main research interest is health economics, with a particular focus on healthcare financing and access, socio-economic inequalities in health, and Irish health policy. She has published numerousarticles on these topics in journals such as Social Science and Medicine, Economic and Social Review, Health Economics, Policy and Law, and Health Economics.
Health Economics and Policy Analysis group at NUI Galway:
www.nuigalway.ie/health-economics

A team of five Masters in International Finance students from NUI Galway has won the Chartered Financial Analysts Ireland 2014 Research Challenge.
The Research Challenge is an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis.
Students gain real-world experience as they assume the role of a research analyst and are tested on their ability to value a stock, write an initiation-of-coverage report, and present their recommendations to a panel of leading financial services professionals.
Speaking after their win, the team said that they had taken a very positive view of Ryanair plc. Anthony Patrick Saoud said their analyses suggested a potential share price of some €9.05 a share – an upside of 24% on the current share price. The team also indicated that they believed that Ryanair had secured an “incredibly strong” competitive position in the airline market in Europe and that current changes in the positioning of the company would lead to income growth from new charges.
The President of the CFA Society Ireland, Ronan McCabe paid tribute to all the teams which took part in the exercise; “NUI Galway really had to earn their win this year as the overall standard of all the teams competing was exceptionally high.” Mr. McCabe thanked Ryanair for its willing participation in the competition as the company under review and Davy Stockbrokers who sponsored the competition.
The winning team will now go on to compete in the European Middle East Africa (EMEA) Finals of the competition in Milan in early April.
In addition to NUI Galway, teams from Trinity, UCD, UCC, Dublin City University, and Queens University Belfast took part in the Irish leg of the competition.
The Masters in International Finance at NUI Galway

The Health Economics and Policy Analysis group at NUI Galway hosted a one day conference on the Economics of Obesity on January 17th 2014.
View morning session
View afternoon session
More details on the conference programme

The BMW Regional Assembly together with the Socio Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) at NUI Galway hosted the inaugural meeting of the MARNET project at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, NUI Galway on July 11th and 12th 2012.
MARNET (Marine Atlantic Regions Network) is a 2.5 year collaborative transnational project involving maritime regions from the Basque country of Spain, Brittany in France, Stirling in Scotland, Porto in Portugal as well as the Border Midland and West region of Ireland. The BMW Regional Assembly is lead partner of the MARNET project which will map the value of the Atlantic marine economy through the development of reliable and comparable socio economic data. The €1.3m project involves the participation of marine researchers as well as Regional Authorities across the Atlantic Area. In Ireland the expertise of the Marine Socio Economic Unit at NUI Galway will be crucial in developing a framework from which new added value activities within the marine sector can be developed to add to the 17,000 jobs already supported by marine related activities in Ireland. MARNET will also complement the integrated plan for the Marine Economy launched in February 2012 by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr. Simon Coveney, TD. The Plan aims to grow the marine sector and move from generating only 1.2% of GDP from this vast and diverse marine resource, which covers an area 10 times the size of Ireland’s land mass.
Local Authorities with marine interests will benefit from the MARNET project through the development of practical initiatives aimed at growing the marine sector at a local level.
The Project is part funded by the ERDF through the EU Interreg Atlantic Area Programme 2007-2013.

The 2011 Census shows that more than two out of every five people aged 65 and over lives in a rural community. Surprisingly, relatively little is known about the situation of this important demographic group. The Rural Ageing Observatory at NUI Galway’s Irish Centre for Social Gerontology is seeking to fill some of the gaps in knowledge on rural ageing. This week it launched the first two reports in a series that, in time, will provide vital information about the ageing population in rural Ireland. The first of the short reports focuses on key demographic trends and issues facing rural older people. The second report summarises evidence relating to income, poverty and deprivation of Ireland’s older rural population.
Launching the reports, Professor Thomas Scharf, Director of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology said: “More than 200,000 people over the age of 65 live in rural communities across Ireland. In the autumn, the government will be launching its National Positive Ageing Strategy. It’s important that this is a strategy for older people wherever they live – in rural as well as in urban communities. Greater awareness of the circumstances of rural older people, in particular, is essential if the right policy measures are to be adopted.”
Both reports are available online at www.icsg.ie

The J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics at NUI Galway is delighted to host a three day intensive course on 'Discrete Choice Modelling' that will be taught by Professor William Greene of New York University. The course will take place on July 4th, 5th and 6th 2012.
Discrete choice models have become an essential tool for the analysis of individual choice behaviour and can be applied to choice problems in a wide variety of diverse fields including environmental management, urban planning, transportation, energy, telecommunications, and healthcare. This course will present the most recent developments in theory and methods of estimation for discrete choice models.
A number of applications from different areas of the professional literature to illustrate these techniques will be discussed. The course will include lectures by Professor Greene each morning. In the afternoon, Professor Greene will guide participants as they do some hands-on analysis using data sets and a familiar computer package.
Professor Greene currently holds the Toyota Motor Corp Chair in the Department of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University where he has taught since 1982. He has also been a visiting professor at several universities including Oxford University, University of York and Sydney University. He is the author of two popular software packages, LIMDEP and NLOGIT, and has written two textbooks, Econometric Analysis (now in its 6th edition) and Applied Choice Analysis. He has published approximately 100 articles in leading journals such as Econometrica, Journal of Econometrics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Political Economy, and the American Economic Review.
The course fee is €350. Places are limited to 50 so early booking is recommended. The fee includes refreshments throughout the course.
View more details (including how to register for this workshop).
Conference on Applied Microeconometrics and Public Policy 3rd July 2012
Professor Greene will also be the plenary speaker at a conference on Applied Microeconometrics and Public Policy that will be held in the Westwood House Hotel, Galway on July 3rd.
View the conference programme here:
Conference Programme 3rd July 2012‌
There is a special conference fee of only €50 for people who are attending the summer school as well as the conference.

Chair of the Fulbright Commission in Ireland, Una Halligan, congratulates Dr. Stephen Hynes of the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics on being awarded a 2012/2013 Fulbright Scholarship at a ceremony held recently in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin. Dr Hynes will undertake research at the Center for the Blue Economy (CBE) in the Monterey Institute of International Studies, California, in the area of marine economics and ecosystem service valuation.

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